Why force USD transaction if both of you live in Canada?

[caveofcards]

Hi. I’ve been around eBay for a number of years, but not as much as others, so reaching out for opinions on the matter.

I, the buyer, live in Canada and want to pay for an item in CAD. The seller also lives in Canada, but is selling their item in USD.

Why is this the case? Both of us live in the same country (and province in this case), but the buyer is required to pay in USD? It doesn’t make sense because the buyer needs to pay a foreign transaction fee. The item isn’t located outside the country. Also, completing transactions in the local currency (CAD) is better for our economy rather than using some other countries currency.

Anyway, just curious as to why some sellers are stubborn over this? It doesn’t make logical sense to me from a buyer’s perspective.

[38e_avenue]

The Canadian seller lists on Ebay.com, where CAD is not allowed as a currency.  So no matter where the seller or the buyer live, all prices will be shown in USD. However, if you find an Ebay.com item on Ebay.ca site, the price will be shown in USD, with CAD exchange rate - for example: US $45.00 - Approximately C $57.73.

[lotzofuniquegoodies]

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@caveofcards wrote:
Hi. I’ve been around eBay for a number of years, but not as much as others, so reaching out for opinions on the matter.

I, the buyer, live in Canada and want to pay for an item in CAD. The seller also lives in Canada, but is selling their item in USD.

Why is this the case? Both of us live in the same country (and province in this case), but the buyer is required to pay in USD? It doesn’t make sense because the buyer needs to pay a foreign transaction fee. The item isn’t located outside the country. Also, completing transactions in the local currency (CAD) is better for our economy rather than using some other countries currency.

Anyway, just curious as to why some sellers are stubborn over this? It doesn’t make logical sense to me from a buyer’s perspective.

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Because the exchange rate is floating and usually to the sellers advantage (parity has been years), they can use it to add to their profit margin even with the eBay fees. Same goes for shipping because they have to use either flat rate shipping or build it into their price. (No calculated shipping available to Canadian sellers listing on dot com.)

-Lotz

On September 20, 2007, the Canadian dollar reached parity with the US dollar for the first time in close to 31 years, with a 62% rise in less than six years driven in part by record high prices for oil and other commodities.

[mrdutch1001]

listings on .COM eBay must be listed in USD; listings on .CA eBay must be listed in CDN.

Sellers can choose to list on .CA(Canada), or. COM(USA) or .UK, or .AU, etc.,etc.

The listings must be listed in the currency as required by that country's eBay site's policy.

Both seller & buyer must abide by that site's currency requirement.

[ypdc_dennis]

If something you really want, you can ask if the Canadian seller if they are willing to move the ebay.com listing to ebay.ca so you can buy in Canadian $.

Most likely to succeed with sellers who sell on both ebay.ca and ebay.com  -- sellers who only sell on ebay.com so they can paid in US$ will not be interested.

-;-

[musicyouneed]

I sell on  both .com and .ca and I am in Canada.  70% of my sales are to US buyers and unfortunately most will only buy in US$ so if I want to make sales to US buyers  I have to list in US$.  Also anything I sell on .ca gets coverted to US$ and then put in my US$ bank account in Canada.

[mcrlmn]

On November 7, 2007, the Canadian dollar  actually hit a high of $1.10 (US).

Brief History Of The Canadian Dollar

[cumos55]

If the listing is in US dollars, a buyer will pay in US dollars, regardless of where the buyer lives..

If you pay with a credit card where payments are in Canadian dollars, for someone who lives in Canada, the US dollar payment will be automatically converted to Canadian dollars.

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An example .....

I list using Auctiva.  My monthly fee is in US dollars on my credit card....  The Auctiva fee is automatically converted to Canadian dollars, and the Auctiva fee is paid in Canadian dollars 

[femmefan1946]

Whatever currency the listing is in (USD, loonies, pounds, euros) when you pay with your credit card, you will be charged in loonies at the current exchange rate.

EBay gives you an approximate cost in loonies when you shop on dotCA and look at listings from other sites.

The advantage of buying from Canadian sellers is not the currency.

It is that you will not be paying import fees.

If your seller is shipping from the USA, you will be charged duty on imports over $150 and sales tax on imports over $40.

If your seller is shipping from Europe (or Brazil or Japan) you will be you will be charged duty and sales taxes  on imports over $20.

In addition, the actual cost of shipping may be lower depending on the service chosen by the seller.

[velvet@ebay]

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@caveofcards wrote:
Hi. I’ve been around eBay for a number of years, but not as much as others, so reaching out for opinions on the matter.

I, the buyer, live in Canada and want to pay for an item in CAD. The seller also lives in Canada, but is selling their item in USD.

Why is this the case? Both of us live in the same country (and province in this case), but the buyer is required to pay in USD? It doesn’t make sense because the buyer needs to pay a foreign transaction fee. The item isn’t located outside the country. Also, completing transactions in the local currency (CAD) is better for our economy rather than using some other countries currency.

Anyway, just curious as to why some sellers are stubborn over this? It doesn’t make logical sense to me from a buyer’s perspective.

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Hi @caveofcards! You may see a choice of payment currency options at checkout. For example, if you live in Canada, and want to pay for an item located in the US, you may see the option to pay in either CAD or USD.

If you choose to pay in your local currency and it’s different from the currency the item is listed in, you’ll see the exchange rate along with the order total in your local currency at checkout. You’ll also see the currency you used in the order details in your confirmation email.

You can go here to learn more about paying for items too. 😊